Reviews by scottfrie:

A: The first half of the bottle poured rather clear, but then suddenly mid-stream this beer turned into a thick, opaque, pumpkin orange. This looks like thick mango juice in a glass. Minimal off-white head to fuzzy collar. S: Definitely boozy. Booze actually dominates. Malty backbone is right there next to sweet tropical fruit hops. Did I mention this beer is boozy?T: The flavors are a hot mess of a concoction. Hops are powerful but all over the place. If you told me this was supposed to taste like mangos, I’d probably tell you it tasted like mint, herbal, cat piss, tangerine, and bitter piney hop resin, caramel and tons of booze, but not mangos. The finish is bitter and unpolished. M: Extremely viscous and thick for a dipa, redeemingly smooth low carbonation, and a hot boozy mouthfeel. O: Disappointingly messing and boozy. Perhaps if I was drinking this beer the week it was made it would be a bit better, but there’s just too much going on and way too much alcohol for this to be enjoyable. (1,074 characters)

More User Reviews:

Poured from a growler filled Thursday, July 4th. Super cloudy with a half a finger off bright white head. The aroma is packed with fresh mango and super citrusy hops. How someone cannot taste mango when drinking this beer is unbelievable to me. The amount of bitterness complements the fruit addition. The alcohol only becomes present as it warms to room temperature. A very dangerous beer at this ABV as this one goes down way too easy. A steal at $15.50 a growler (465 characters)

12oz bottle. Big thanks go to Stakem for grabbing me a bottle of this. Pours a hazed apricot color with a robust sudsy white head. Retention and lacing are good. This smells of juicy mango with a fresh bitter citrus presence and some sharp feeling pine notes. Sweet grains adds some twang. The taste is similar, with a tangy blend of tropical mango and sweet bready notes. Strong bitter citric hops are fairly aggressive here, as is a strong resinous character that really lingers. The mouthfeel is fuller bodied with a pretty lively feeling carbonation. Maybe a little too sharp in spots. That high alcohol is felt here, adding an assertive warmth to this that gets to be a big too much at times. Things could be worse for an 11%+ beer though. This is OK. The mango flavor is welcome but the aggressive combo of the hops and high ABV really cuts down on the overall drinkability of this. I’m still glad that I finally got to try this though. (944 characters)

Max's had Scratch 97 on tap for Hop Fest and I told DrBier about how I was dying to try their Mango IPA, and the next day he brought me a bottle. Thanks man.

12 oz. bottle poured into a Burley Oak snifter

A: It looks like thick mango juice or a mango smoothie. It is the color of mango flesh. There are a lot of particulates as well. It really looks like you just juiced a mango and added some spirit to it.

S: You can really smell the mango here. It melds quite nicely with the standard ipa scents, and really dominates the citrus section. Mostly mango flavors here. There is also a bitter pith smell here, but it is almost the smell of alcohol as well.

T: WOW! For a second there, I thought I got some chunks of mango. There is a ton of mango flavors here. Ok, this is definitely unfiltered because I definitely got some mango pith/flesh there (I'm not eating, so I know it wasn't just food in my mouth). The booze is there but it is quite understated, and really only shows up at the beginning of each sip and in the back of the mouth with this bitterness of an aftertaste. The alcohol is the only part where you get any hint or taste of the malt bill. Weird aftertaste though. There is actually a bit of a peppery/spice taste.

M: It is quite carbonated and there is an initial burst of carbonation (almost like one big bubble) followed by a steady stream of prickly, coarse bubbles.

O: The only detriment to this beer is the booziness and odd aftertaste. You seem to really taste and notice the booziness the more you drink it. It really showcases the mango very well. This beer is weird in that as it drew closer to me finalizing my score and thus as I finished my beer, my opinion and scores seemed to dip. (1,718 characters)

This is my 70th Troeg beer. One of these was Scratch 58 which was the original Mango IPA. That was a great beer and I really looked forward to this years release. What a disappointment for me. I don't know what it is but this years Mango IPA has a very unpleasant taste. Some folks seem to love it but not me. Dogfish Head 120 is similar in ABV and IBU but iris a much nicer tasting beer. You cannot really taste the mango. All I get is a bitterness/ sour that lasts too long. (476 characters)

Picked up this howler from the Syracuse Real Food Co-op—was absolutely delighted to see this on tap at the damn Co-op. I thought this stuff was going to be impossible to get my hands on . . . but I sure am glad I did. Straight pour from a 1L flip-top growler to a 15cl tasting flute, shared with Saul & Laura of Griffin Hill Brewing. What tremendous hosts and friends.

Appearance (2.5): This beer pours with a completely cloudy (opaque, frankly) orange body, with 2.5 fingers of fat-bubbled head, showing great retention in taking its sweet-ass time to die down, but with only modest lacing. It’s not super looking, with rather poor lacing for the style, but ah well. I personally don’t mind a cloudy DIPA, but this isn’t very attractive for the style.

Taste (4.5): MANGO, just pure fucking mango—mango juice, with a light carbonation and stuff, almost spicy butterness. Incredibly bitter, actually, with just straight up red grapefruit flesh and peel. Booze burns a bit on the tongue, which isn’t shocking for how damn big this beer is, but fortunately it mixes well with the oily, zesty hop and fruit character. Jeez Louise. Malts? Nah, just fruit, bitterness, and booze. And awesomeness.

Mouthfeel (3.75): Modest carbonation, complementing a viscous body with full- to heavy-weight feel, oily but sticky at the same time—it’s really just like pure mango nectar, but with booze heat and some light carbonation. Could be zingier, I suppose, in terms of carbonation, but it’s decent for such a big DIPA.

Overall (4.5): This is a fucking good DIPA with so, so much juicy mango and intense bitterness it’s not even funny. The booze is there, no question about that, but it blends into the hop bitterness with that burn. This beer is so, so damn tasty . . . I love it. I haven’t had a (D)IPA this big, intense, full-flavored, and bitter in a long, long time. So refreshing. Seek it out! (2,165 characters)

A: 3.50 - straw golden-yellow coloration, murky even for an imperial IPA (can't see or read through at all), minimal white head dissipates into subtle glass lacing, big-time alcohol legs!

S: 4.25 - on opening the growler initially, there was a huge mango aroma...on pouring into the glass, in addition to the mango, there is lots of overripe grapefruit and pineapple...also picking up alcohol notes consistent (but more subtle than expected for 11.3% ABV); little dank and herbal/spicy aroma distant in the background

T: 4.50 - the tropical and hop bitterness hit almost at once for me and lingers for a long time, alcohol notes also predominate, malt breadiness starts to kick in from the background

O: 4.25 - having just recently been wickedly impressed with the triple-dry hopped Perpetual IPA, this one doesn't stand up because there are lots of qualities that I think are atypical for an imperial IPA - too murky, too boozy and too sweet; as I was thinking how to describe the style, I think that it comes closer to blond tropical American barleywine than a DIPA; I probably wouldn't purchase this again but certainly appreciated the drinking experience of another unique Scratch beer from one of the best mid-Atlantic breweries (1,577 characters)